Simple Decision Support Tool for university academic advising

Abstract

The academic advising process requires considerable planning on the part of both students and advisors. Academic advisors need to work with multiple advising documents in one time. Most of the advisors' time is spent on repetitive tasks instead of assisting the students with efficient advice on reaching full academic potential during the educational experience in the institution. Academic advising systems and tools must provide true decision support for students and advisors by processing specific student information and producing customized advice for that particular student. In small institutions, another issue needs to be considered that is the number of students in each class to guarantee a minimum number of enrolled students. Thus, effective academic advising is also essential for institutional planning and optimized resource allocation. To better utilize technology in the advising process and to automate repetitive tasks in advising students, Information Systems Department Students in Effat University developed a spreadsheet-based Decision Support Tool for Academic Advising.